I discussed yesterday's penuche episode with my counterpart, the real cook in the house. I have the follow addendum to yesterday's post:

The instructions to cook the milk, butter, and sugar all together? When have I ever seen my very chefy counterpart do this? He typically melts the butter first, then slowly adds the sugar to ensure it dissolves, then slowly brings it to a boil and adds the dairy.

That burning smell I noticed when my sugar mixture started to reach temperature? It was actually burning sugar. I most likely cooked my sugar at too high a temperature instead of letting it gradually simmer up to soft ball stage. This contributed to the uneven texture and the resulting rock-hard set.

That heavy cream I used to help pull it together? It may have smoothed out the texture, but I probably should have continued blending my gravelly mixture until to smoothed out on its own. Using cream instead prevented this necessary step in the process from completing.

This is something I want to perfect. I'll continue working at this and will post again when I get it right.